Chicago Bulls: Should Derrick Rose Retire?

At this point, the Chicago Bulls have to be re-thinking all of their future plans regarding how to shape their roster.

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That wasn’t the case a few days ago, when the Bulls seemed to be turning the corner on their recent struggles and heading in a more positive direction.

That positive swing abruptly came to a halt late Tuesday when the Bulls announced that their star point guard was once again undergoing surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee.

What a difference one announcement can make when it comes to a team’s morale.

After Wednesday’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets, a lot of the Bulls players expressed their concerns for Derrick Rose and hope that he can get healthy and be in good spirits as a human being, not even worrying about how it affects the team on the court.

Unfortunately, when a team loses its main offensive weapon, there’s going to be a hit to the team’s confidence. Whether it will turn out to be minor or major remains to be seen.

This isn’t the first time the Bulls have had to play at a high level without Rose, however. Head coach Tom Thibodeau has built a culture contingent on championship-level defense first, and offense second. Having a team that plays hard on the defensive end is always a benefit, as the best teams aren’t just good on one end of the floor.

With that being said, this team is going to have to find ways to score points in order to be successful in the postseason, and forward Pau Gasol and guard Jimmy Butler will have to be the main guys who step up in Rose’s absence, especially since center Joakim Noah has been battling injuries himself and hasn’t been right all season.

Even with Rose gone, the Bulls can still remain competitive in a weak Eastern Conference. Where the damage has been done is with their hopes of bringing a title back to Chicago, as those dreams are over, at least for this season.

Whether people want to admit it or not, this team was built around Rose’s ability to penetrate the defense and set up his teammates for open looks. There really aren’t any true shot creators or adept ball-handlers on this team outside of Rose to really make things happen on offense.

That kind of impact is going to be sorely missed, especially in the playoffs where teams get to make adjustments over the course of seven games.

This means that guys like Gasol and Butler are going to have to take and make shots at a higher difficulty than they have been during the regular season, and both guys haven’t ever been looked to as No. 1 options in their careers in May and June.

That’s how things look for the Bulls in the immediate future, but what about in the long term? Where does Rose fit in, or does he fit in at all?

The real question is should Rose seriously consider packing it in and retiring?

I’m here to say yes, he should.

The complicated part of it all is his contract, as he is being paid on a maximum scale, and any player being handed that much money would naturally want to claim all of it rather than retire and lose out on some of the money. For that reason, it is likely that Rose will at least stay with the team until his current deal is up and try to rehab and play as much as possible.

There’s a difference between what Rose should do for himself versus what he should do for the organization, though. The Bulls are now without their star player for an indefinite period of time, and may never get the superstar that Rose once was back in uniform ever again.

Rose’s huge salary is eating away at all of the available cap space Chicago could have to go out and sign another star-level player that could come in and compete right away with the established talent that is already on the Bulls.

With Rose, the team cannot bring in high-level talent to try and fill the void left behind by all of his injuries. Without Rose, the team may be looked at in a negative light for giving up on the “hometown hero” that Rose is. Rose grew up in Chicago. He’s the city’s “golden boy” for all intents and purposes.

If the Bulls were to try and buy out his contract or try and force his hand into retiring behind the scenes, surely all of this information would somehow be made public and the fans may not exactly have the nicest reaction to the news.

The Bulls are in a rough spot, but they aren’t in as much of a predicament as Rose is in.

This is Rose’s health we are talking about here. If he keeps piling up these kinds of injuries, it may get to the point where his legs will never be the same again. Worst case scenario, he could end up in a wheelchair a lot sooner than he may have originally expected.

A lot of people wanted to put Rose on blast when he spoke out about the fact that he wants to be cautious about all of these injuries because he wants to be in good health for his life after basketball. Right now, I don’t blame him for making those kinds of comments.

This injury history is serious regardless of what anyone says about how Rose may not be a true competitor or that he doesn’t want to do everything he can to help Chicago win another title.

My advice to Rose would be to get as much money as he possibly can because at the end of the day, this is still a capitalistic society we are apart of. I’m never going to sit here and tell someone to take less money than they are worth, I find that to be completely off-base.

However, I don’t recommend that Rose play another professional game of basketball.

Rose has already been through a lot in his short career. He’s dealt with all kinds of injuries as well as plenty of public scrutiny. Rose has rode the popularity roller coaster for what it’s worth, and it has sure been full of ups and downs along the way.

Rose owes it to himself and his family to make the decision that’s best for his health. No game is bigger than the well-being of an individual, even if the Bulls could contend for a championship with a healthy Rose.

Take my advice Rose, you don’t want to jeopardize your long-term health over basketball. It would be one thing if the injury was minor, or that you didn’t have a history of serious medical problems. That is not the case, and people need to understand that. This isn’t the time to tell Rose to suck it up and play through the pain.

Rose has given everything for the city of Chicago, and now it’s time for the organization and its fans to pay him the same kind of respect.

Get well soon, Rose. Take care of yourself and make the best decisions for you. If that means retiring, I’m all for it. If you can get back on the court and you choose to come back as soon as possible, then I can’t wait to see you play in that Bulls uniform again. Do you man, we’re all rooting for you.

Next: Another Knee Surgery for D-Rose

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